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The 2014 Time Magazine Person of the Year is actually a group of people – brave women and men from around the world who are fighting the deadly Ebola virus. And Federal employees are right in the middle of this important battle.

In naming the Ebola fighters the Person of the Year, the magazine editors said; “The rest of the world can sleep at night because a group of men and women are willing to stand and fight.” They are being recognized, the editors said, “For tireless acts of courage and mercy, for buying the world time to boost its defenses, for risking, for persisting, for sacrificing and saving.”

It came as no surprise to me that hundreds of Federal employees are a part of the global Ebola effort. Time named three outstanding individuals who have been key players. Nancy Sullivan and Gary Nabel, virologists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, have spent the past decade working on an Ebola vaccine that is now in clinical trials. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden pushed for CDC teams to be allowed to help with the Ebola response in West Africa. Because of Frieden’s effort, the CDC is making a big difference in this fight.

We’re truly leading the way. This is the largest-ever U.S. response to a global health threat.

President Obama put it best: “We’ve got hundreds of Americans from across the country –- nurses, doctors, public health workers, soldiers, engineers, mechanics -– who are putting themselves on the front lines of this fight,” the President said during a White House celebration of U.S. Ebola fighters. “They represent citizenship, and patriotism, and public service at its best. They make huge sacrifices to protect this country that we love. And when they come home, they deserve to be treated properly. They deserve to be treated like the heroes that they are.”

This is what I mean when I talk about our incredible purpose-driven workforce. You are the standard of dedicated, passionate, and selfless public servants. And I know better than most that the recognition these scientists received from Time reflects the work of scores of public health officials across the country who have volunteered to aid in this fight. It’s an example of the service the American people can count on from Federal employees each and every day.

Thank you for all you did in 2014. Here’s to an even better 2015. I wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year!

All around the world, this is the day children try to stay up as late as they can, hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus as he makes his way to their house.

Did you know that thanks to the Federal government’s North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), youngsters can figure out just when to turn their eyes skyward? NORAD’s Santa Tracker will let them know when Santa and his sleigh are approaching. While they are waiting, Santa watchers can also call the Santa hotline – 877-HI-NORAD – to make any last-minute gift requests. Those that are too shy to call the big guy can send a note to his personal email address.

I’d like to share with you the interesting story behind NORAD’s Santa Tracker. This Santa watch started with a simple misprint in a Sears Department Store ad and a kind-hearted member of the military.

In 1955, Col. Harry Shoup was stationed at the Continental Air Defense Command. The office, which is now NORAD, had two phones – a regular line and one of the top-secret red phones that rings at times of national emergency.

One night Col. Shoup’s red phone rang. The colonel answered it, and heard a child at the other end asking for Santa. At first Shoup was angry, thinking it was a prank. But the child’s mother explained that the obviously wrong number was printed in a Sears ad that encouraged children to call Santa and ask for their gifts.

The colonel decided to have a little fun. He put together a team to answer the inevitable calls that started to flood in as a result of the ad. Eventually, he came up with the idea of calling radio stations and alerting DJs to the location of Santa’s sleigh. The stations would then call in regularly for updates. Shoup became known as Col. Santa, and the tradition carried on, year after year. Thanks to a recent story on National Public Radio and interviews with the late colonel’s grown children, we have the details of this endearing story.

Today, NORAD continues to track Santa and his reindeer. Volunteers man the hotline – though it is no longer a top-secret number – and update the world on Santa’s progress through Christmas Eve. It just goes to show that Federal employees – both military and civilian – have some of the coolest jobs. It also shows how a little innovation and imagination can go a long way.

The Department of Defense’s Press Secretary, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, says that “every indication is that Santa Claus will arrive on time this year to deliver presents to the world’s estimated 1.9 billion children” and that NORAD is “tuning up the Santa-tracking system” this year. NoradSanta.org now shows the countdown until Santa takes to the skies. Kirby also assures us that the anti-Grinch firewall is up and monitoring for threats and that NORAD has verified the load-bearing capacity of all rooftops. Their infrared detecting satellites are even calibrated to see Rudolph’s nose. That’s what I call cutting-edge technology.

Join us in tracking Santa this year. And I hope that you and your loved ones have a safe, happy, and restful holiday season.

Winter officially begins next week. As you may already know, OPM is responsible for deciding when to change the Federal government’s operating status in the Washington, D.C. area, and for getting the word out about any changes.

While we are all hoping for an uneventful winter weather season, I want to make sure all Federal employees know what to do when severe weather hits.

I take many factors into consideration when deciding the status of Federal government operations inside the Beltway. The most important is the safety of the Federal workforce and the surrounding community. Our employees are our most important asset. The second concern is continuity of operations. The government never really closes. Emergency response personnel and teleworkers keep our operations going even when employees can’t physically get to work.

During a live-streamed eventearlier today, Dean Hunter, OPM's Director of Facilities, Security and Contracting, explained the decision-making process, and Brenda Roberts, OPM’s Deputy Associate Director of Pay & Leave, gave an overview of the policy that informs those decisions.

Brenda also told us about the change to this year’s policy. OPM is revising an outdated leave practice of allowing employees who are already scheduled to be on paid leave when the Federal government closes to take excused absences. With the change, if Federal offices close, employees who are on pre-approved leave remain on leave, rather than switching to an “excused absence” status.

We made this change to take into consideration today’s workplace flexibilities. With the increasing use of telework to help us assure continuity of operations, it’s now obsolete to provide excused absences for those employees already scheduled to be on leave when an emergency hits.

We had two guests with us at today’s webcast. Chris Strong, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service, helped us understand how the weather service informs OPM about upcoming storms and the difficulties in predicting those weather events.

We were also joined by Caroline Laurin, deputy chief spokesperson for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Because so many Federal employees take public transportation to work, it’s crucial for all of us to know the status of trains and buses by consulting with WMATA. The authority relies on our decisions to let them know how many crews, trains, and buses are needed for rush hour commutes during difficult weather. Caroline stressed how important it is that employees comply with OPM’s status decisions.

We need to be prepared for weather and unexpected emergencies all year round. It is important that agencies and their employees know their personnel designations, telework policies, and emergency preparedness plans before an event occurs. The past few years have taught us that our dismissal and closure procedures extend beyond winter weather emergencies and can be necessary at any time.

We want to make sure that Federal workers stay safe and that we continue to serve the American people even during times of difficult weather events. And the best way to make sure that happens is for everyone to be informed.

I like to think that our Federal workforce leaders know how much we all appreciate and respect the hard work they do each and every day. But yesterday, I had the honor of hosting an event where I joined the President in making clear just how much we value the efforts of all our senior leaders.

More than 3,000 senior leaders came together to share success stories and to listen to administration leaders and the President thank them for a job well done.

As the President said, circumstances such as sequestration, pay freezes, and a shutdown have made the jobs of our senior executives even more challenging than usual. Throughout these difficulties, these leaders have persevered and excelled. Through their leadership, our 2-million strong Federal workforce makes sure that each day in America, 30,000 airplanes land on time, children have clean water to drink, and millions more Americans have quality, affordable health coverage for themselves and their loved ones.

As I said on Tuesday, it is fitting that the symbol of the Senior Executive Service is a keystone, which is the stone that holds all the other pieces of an arch in place. These talented, committed, and dedicated leaders are the keystone of America’s workforce.

Tuesday’s event also gave all of us an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to building and leading an engaged, inclusive, innovative, and diverse Federal workforce. We celebrated our successes and were inspired to continue the important work of providing excellent service to the American people each and every day.

As the Federal workforce prepares to share this holiday season with friends and family, I hope you will take a moment to let your colleagues know how much you value your Federal family. I know I am grateful for the talent, the commitment, and the dedication of the women and men of the Office of Personnel Management. I am honored to be your senior leader.

Today the President honored the incredible innovation, energy, and commitment of the senior leaders of America’s Federal workforce. These public servants come from all walks of life and from every corner of America to carry on the proud tradition of dedicating their careers to serving others.

In his address, the President highlighted the extraordinary contributions senior leaders make every day to public service, and he called on leaders in the Federal workforce to continue their focus on the most important elements of leadership: investing in our people and engaging our workforce; maintaining a focus on achieving agency missions; encouraging diversity and inclusion; encouraging innovation; and delivering quality customer service.

A high-performing government relies on an engaged, well-prepared, and well-trained workforce. Whether defending our homeland, restoring confidence in our financial system, providing health care to our veterans, conducting diplomacy abroad, providing relief to victims of disasters, or searching for cures to the most vexing diseases, we are fortunate to be able to depend upon a skilled workforce committed to public service.

As part of the President’s Management Agenda, the Administration is focused on developing and unlocking the full potential of the Federal workforce to drive greater effectiveness and efficiency within government and better harness taxpayer resources to spur economic growth for the American people. That is why, today, the President also announced three new initiatives to recognize outstanding service and provide new opportunities for aspiring senior leaders to develop the skills needed to better serve the American public:

White House Leadership Development Program for Future Senior Career Executives. As part of the President’s continued commitment to training and developing our government’s high performers and strengthening the next generation of leaders who comprise the Senior Executive Service (SES), the Administration is launching the White House Leadership Development Program. Through this program, top civil servants and SES candidates will participate in rotational assignments across agencies to gain valuable experience by working on the Federal government’s highest priority, highest impact challenges that require the coordination of multiple Federal agencies to succeed. The program is a step toward fulfilling the vision of the Senior Executive Service and developing senior civil servants with critical skill sets such as leading change, building coalitions, working across government to solve problems, and performance management. Furthermore, these emerging leaders will play a key role in addressing critical management challenges facing the Federal government and delivering lasting results. The first cohort will start in 2015.

White House Advisory Group on Senior Executive Service (SES) Reform. The White House Advisory Group will play a key role in providing input on the core components of Administration’s efforts to strengthen the SES corps. The group will be comprised of individuals recommended by agency leadership as highly effective SES, Senior Level, and Senior Technical professionals, as well as aspiring SES, that will provide a broad set of advice on the current and future state of the senior career leadership. The group will play a key role in improving the way the Federal Government recruits, hires, develops, and retains top senior career leaders. They will also help develop accountability mechanisms for senior leaders and identify improvements to management practices among the SES. The breadth of experience from this group will ultimately help ensure the best practices across agencies are used to inform future reforms.

Customer Service Awards Program. In order to focus SES and employees on outcomes and improving the quality, timeliness, and effectiveness of the services they provide to the American people and American businesses, the Administration is creating a Customer Service Awards Program that is designed to:

Recognize, promote, and reward service excellence, professionalism, and outstanding achievement by individual Federal employees and teams at all levels in the organization;

Provide opportunities for the Administration to highlight outstanding customer service and initiatives leading to customer service improvements; and

Identify effective practices which can be replicated.

The awards, which are non-monetary, will recognize outstanding individuals and teams that regularly interact with customers as well as highlight initiatives that have directly improved services for the American people through the application of technology, improvements in operations, or other innovations. The program will include two levels of awards: Secretary Customer Service Awards given out by agencies, and a limited number of Presidential Customer Service Awards.

Katherine Archuleta is the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.

Beth Cobert is the Deputy Director for Management at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

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